No matter the type of commercial property you own, preventative maintenance plays a vital role in keeping all facets of the business operating efficiently. While the property needs to look good from the outside looking in, it’s important that you also maintain everything that lies underneath the surface. With properly maintained facilities, electrical, and plumbing, you’ll be able to get ahead of any costly issue that is headed your way.
To help you better understand how preventative maintenance plays an important role in commercial real estate, the team at Price Commercial Management has put together a guide to walk you through what it is and its many benefits.
What Is Preventive Maintenance?
Preventative maintenance is different from general maintenance in the sense that it is performed to prevent potential problems from arising that can be costly and inconvenient. By performing proper upkeep of your property, equipment, and structure, your maintenance team can pinpoint potential hazards early on and resolve them before expensive repairs or replacements are required. From cleaning common areas and inspecting plumbing and electrical systems to servicing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems, there is an endless list of preventative maintenance to be done. With a property management company managing your preventative maintenance, you can have peace of mind knowing that all your building equipment is operating at peak efficiency and performing the necessary tasks to increase the return on your investment.
5 Benefits of Preventative Commercial Property Maintenance
Now that you understand what preventative maintenance is and the vital role it plays in maintaining your building facilities, let’s dive right into the benefits you’ll experience by hiring a preventative commercial property maintenance company.
Enhanced Equipment Efficiency
As a property owner, you want to do everything to cushion the bottom line. With preventative maintenance, your mechanical, plumbing, and electrical equipment will be inspected of a regular basis which ensures that it will continue to run in the most efficient manner possible. Scheduling bi-annual commercial HVAC maintenance will remove any dirt and debris buildup and keep your systems performing at their best no matter the season outside. It also minimizes the risk of breakdown for these commercial systems, which saves you money on repair costs that can really add up over time.
Reduced Costs
Preventative maintenance can positively impact your revenue and profit in a few ways. First, preventative maintenance allows you to uncover potential problems with your facilities before they breakdown. Small problems are often less costly to fix than if you’re dealing with a total repair — especially if you need to call in reinforcements after-hours. Wouldn’t you rather replace a fan belt instead of an entire commercial air conditioning system? Additionally, you’ll keep your tenants happier when they have a commercial space that is well-maintained and taken care of. Because of this, you can spend less time and money on marketing efforts to bring in new tenants to replace unhappy tenants that have moved out of your property.
Improved Tenant Retention
No tenant wants to rent out a commercial space that is constantly dealing with problems. If problems related to your building’s facilities and equipment begin eating into a tenant’s profits, they’re going to look to conduct their business elsewhere. Retail stores can’t operate if their space keeps losing power. Companies renting office space aren’t going to renew their lease if the air conditioner keeps breaking in the middle of the summer. If your property is causing a headache for the tenants renting from you, it’s time to take preventative commercial property maintenance services seriously. Getting ahead of potential problems and upkeeping the overall appearance of the property will keep your tenants satisfied, and as a result, improve your tenant retention come time for lease renewals.
Increased Property Value
The more updates and maintenance you are constantly making to the property enhances the experience for any tenant. With regular maintenance visits, you’ll become aware of any updates that need to be done or are recommended based on the condition of your current facilities, but also comparing you to other properties in the area. Preventative maintenance ensures you’re always aware of the latest updates and modifications that can be made to improve your property, and the more enhancements you make over the years, the more you can charge for rent. When tenants know they can rely on you for having a well-kept property, they’ll see the value behind a slightly higher price point.
Outsourced Help
Maintaining a property can seem like a never-ending job. Whether you’re fielding issues from tenants or scheduling your next preventative maintenance appointment, there’s always something to be done. You’re likely already strapped for time looking for additional properties to add to your portfolio or looking for tenants to fill your vacancies. Hiring a property management team to manage all your preventative maintenance needs guarantees that nothing will fall through the cracks. Every necessary appointment will be scheduled on time without you having to lift a finger — enabling you to spend your time focusing on more critical aspects of the business.
How to Offer Unparalleled Property Maintenance
As a commercial property owner, keeping your tenants happy should be of the utmost priority. One of the most effective ways to increase tenant satisfaction is to provide them with unparalleled property maintenance service that is second to none. Here are three ways for you or your commercial property manager to provide tenants with superior commercial property maintenance:
Perform Preventative Commercial Property Maintenance
Getting ahead of a potential problem is the key to tenant happiness — especially if they didn’t even know there was a problem in the first place! Putting together a seasonal maintenance checklist allows you to touch on every aspect of the property that needs maintenance before hazardous or costly issues arise. From conducting commercial property landscape maintenance in the spring to scheduling HVAC tune-ups to prepare for the winter and summer when your system will be working overtime, preventative maintenance ensures that everything is operating smoothly. As a result, you reduce the chance that a tenant will require an urgent or expensive repair.
Answer Commercial Property Maintenance Requests within 24 Hours
If a maintenance request is submitted by a tenant, make it a priority to get back to them with a solution within 24 hours. Even if the problem will not be resolved in that timeframe, you need to reach out to them and let them know you are working on their problem. When requests go unanswered, your tenants become unsatisfied with your services and will begin seeing you or your property management team in a negative light.
Provide After-Hours Services, When Needed
While many problems occur during normal operating hours, that’s not always the case. Should a problem arise for a tenant after normal business hours, they need a way to get in touch with someone who can resolve the issue. Provide your tenants with an emergency maintenance contact who can troubleshoot their problems right away. Even if the problem isn’t resolved right away, the tenant will likely be able to get a temporary solution to hold them over in the meantime.
When to Hire a Commercial Property Manager to Help with Preventative Maintenance
Preventative maintenance is an absolute must for commercial property owners. But with your neverending to-do list, it’s hard to find the time needed to manage everything that needs to get done to keep your property spic and span. A reputable commercial property management company can be a major asset and take some of the heavy lifting off your hands. With Price Commercial Management, you can have peace of mind knowing that your properties are in good hands. Our team offers a fully customizable suite of property management services, including routine and preventative maintenance, so you can get assistance with what you need and continue managing what you want.
If you are looking for a commercial property manager who will have your portfolio’s best interests in mind and do whatever they can to continually increase your property’s value through routine and preventative maintenance, contact Price Commercial Management today.
